RED GARLAND
At The Prelude, Vol. 1 (Prestige)
Reviewed by Ron Saranich

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What a resume! Before starting his own band, Red Garland backed such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, and of course Miles Davis. Garland originally played clarinet and alto saxophone before finding his true muse and switching to piano at the late age of 18. His influences included Nat Cole, Bud Powell, and Ahmad Jamal. Garland's pure talent, distinctive style and extended use of the block chording technique made him a wonderful accompanist and passionate soloist.

The music on Live At The Prelude, Vol. 1 occurred in 1959 and was originally released as two Red Garland albums, Live At The Prelude and Live. This remastered cd offers the listener a healthy 77 minutes of pure jazz. Garland, with Jimmy Rowser on bass and Charles Wright on drums, plays mostly standards as loving, straight ahead jazz.

My favorite numbers are the Duke Ellington tunes "Satin Doll", "Perdido", and "Just Squeeze Me". In addition, Garland reprises his hot work on "Bye Bye Blackbird" that he made famous while with the original Miles Davis Quintet. His piano solos were a thing of beauty, as Garland was a master of the blues and swing idioms. Garland was a confident yet emotional player who is seriously underrated as a jazz pianist.

Every jazz collector needs at least one or two Red Garland albums in their collection. I highly recommend Live At The Prelude, Vol. 1 as one of your Garland recordings. It's a classic piano trio session.

© 2001 - Ron Saranich